Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting
Preppy Kitchen · ♥ 34.8K likes · 1.9M views · 14 min video
Read about layer cakes in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 120 g pecans
- ½–1 cup pecans
Toast the pecans in the oven at 350F for four minutes, moving them around, until fragrant; chop.
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp cardamom
- ½ tsp allspice
- 0.125–¼ tsp cloves
- raisins
- pineapple
Whisk flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and any optional spices together in a large bowl.
Measuring flour correctly
- 200 g granulated sugar
- 220 g light brown sugar
In a second bowl combine granulated sugar and light brown sugar, breaking up lumps.
Sugars and what they do
- 320 ml vegetable oil
- 4 whole eggs
Add the oil, eggs and vanilla to the sugars and whisk until smooth and thick, with no lumps of egg.
- 2 tsp vanilla
Variation: replace half a cup of the oil with applesauce, crushed pineapple or banana to reduce the oil.
Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir by hand, scraping the bottom and folding, only until almost combined with streaks of flour still showing. Do not use a mixer.
Fold in the chopped pecans, then the grated carrots, until the last pocket of flour is gone. The batter is thick.
Butter the sides of two nine-inch pans or use baking spray, line the bottoms with parchment rounds, and divide the batter equally, weighing the layers if possible; level with a spatula.
- 227 g unsalted butter
Cream the butter on medium speed in a stand mixer with the paddle for about one minute, until creamy and free of lumps.
Soften the cream cheese; microwave at 50 percent power in 20 second bursts if hard. Warm an ice-cold bowl for 30 seconds or rinse it with hot water to stop cold lumps forming.
- 8 oz cream cheese
Add the softened cream cheese and mix on medium 30 to 45 seconds, until fluffy and well combined; scrape down.
Powdered sugar for structure
- 4–5 cup powdered sugar
Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time, mixing on low, tasting as you go; the mixture loosens first and stiffens as the rest goes in.
Cool the layers completely in the pans, tap the sides, turn out and peel off the parchment; set the first layer on a cake stand.
Unmolding and stacking
Spread about three quarters of a cup of frosting on the first layer, working it to the edge, and set the second layer on top.
Pile the remaining frosting on top, reserving three quarters of a cup for dollops; smooth the top and work the frosting down the sides, using a bench scraper for a tight finish.
Pipe dollops with a closed star tip and scatter chopped pecans over the top.